30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 12

I missed a day!  What I would write about, however, was on my mind yesterday--it just did not make it into blog form.  Here we go...

Yesterday I was thankful for my job.  There are so many things I love about being a teacher in general, and I am particularly thankful to be working at my specific school.  I have great resources, great support, and am just overall very lucky to have been hired at Oregon High School.

So much of being a teacher is making connections with students.  Even the most disengaged teenager will make an effort if something about the classroom makes him feel like he belongs there.  Teaching can be exhausting, but it isn't any particular task that needs to be done that sucks the energy from you.  It's the fact that in one day I interact with at least 115 students, all of whom I know details about their lives or am in the process of trying to build that relationship.  Add to that the staff members I work with, and perhaps it becomes more clear why I am not often up for hanging out with more people on a weeknight.  Despite the energy those relationships demand, they are also by far the most rewarding thing about teaching.  Students, in all their diversity, make such a interesting and fantastic community of people to be around.  It probably helps that I also really enjoy the subject I teach.  If I disliked either the students or the math, I would be counting hours and days.  Instead, the only reason I dread my alarm clock is because sleep is one of my favorite things in the world (see the next post).  I sincerely love my job, and many times I forget that I get paid to do what I do.  And when bad days come?  Well, that is when I look forward to paycheck Friday :)